OFFICIAL - Loews Convention Hotel (formerly Hyatt)

[FangKC]

Visit KC CEO: KC needs a downtown convention center hotel

http://tinyurl.com/k3bcjvq

[aknowledgeableperson]

Noticed the mention of Skills. That organization would have left anyway if the city had a "convention hotel". It is a combination of convention floor space and hotel rooms that the city needs.

[DaveKCMO]

Visit KC CEO: KC needs a downtown convention center hotel

http://tinyurl.com/k3bcjvq

Quick, someone post that dead horse GIF.

[flyingember]

Visit KC CEO: KC needs a downtown convention center hotel

http://tinyurl.com/k3bcjvq

Quick, someone post that dead horse GIF.

He very quickly showed that things are looking up without a new huge hotel.
Was intrigued about that part.

[GRID]

Visit KC CEO: KC needs a downtown convention center hotel

http://tinyurl.com/k3bcjvq

Quick, someone post that dead horse GIF.

I see that KC is finally getting a few smallish fresh hotels downtown, but they still need at least one large modern full service hotel. I would love to see KC land a large omni and hyatt downtown and then a W (either freestanding in crossroads or rivermarket or as part of large residential tower in the loop). KC still needs 1000's of hotel rooms in the downtown area to compete with most peers for conventions. The smaller hotels plus a 500-700 room hotel would drastically improve KC's aging urban core hotel situation though.

[mgh7676]

More talk of a new downtown convention hotel.

The matter came up after Ronnie Burt, director of Visit KC, reported they did not push to get conventions that book 3,000 rooms a night because they could not compete with other cities.

Councilman John Sharp said that a recent trip to Austin found that city had far more 1st class hotel rooms within walking distance of its convention center.

“I’m optimistic we will get to that point one day,” Burt said.

James said the city is working toward a major downtown hotel.

“We will not pull that trigger until we get a deal for Kansas City that makes sense,” he said, but he believes it is getting close.

http://midtownkcpost.com/talk-new-downtown-hotel/

[earthling]

There are too many cities to compete with for conventions now. Fine to pursue a convention hotel but since there are already nearly 1000 rooms in progress downtown, it's not as critical - not enough large convention biz to go around for heavy incentives anyway. Medium incentives might be OK depending on terms, but downtown KC isn't in a desperate situation anymore and needs to reduce the financial risk with future projects. When the streetcar is running, more hotels may organically come anyway - a couple new ones specifically say they came because of streetcar, and needed no incentives if I recall, except maybe help with infrastructure.

[flyingember]

I'm of the opinion we need to aim for tons of small events and fill lots of spaces

Look at how many spaces we have for events downtown that rent out space

Sprint Center
Municipal Arena
Municipal Exhibition
Bartle Ball room
Bartle Hall A
Bartle Hall B
Bartle Hall C
Bartle Hall D
Bartle Hall E
PAC theatre
PAC music space
Music Hall
Little Theatre
Bartle Hall dozens of meeting rooms
Union Station Sprint Plaza
Union Station grand gallery
Union Station 4x rooms
Union Station City Stage

there's capabilities for 18 events at once. get enough of these going and you have the need for 1000 more hotel rooms, all without any of the events being more than 100 people

[kboish]

There are too many cities to compete with for conventions now. Fine to pursue a convention hotel but since there are already nearly 1000 rooms in progress downtown, it's not as critical - not enough large convention biz to go around for heavy incentives anyway. Medium incentives might be OK depending on terms, but downtown KC isn't in a desperate situation anymore and needs to reduce the financial risk with future projects. When the streetcar is running, more hotels may organically come anyway - a couple new ones specifically say they came because of streetcar, and needed no incentives if I recall, except maybe help with infrastructure.

I agree. And I think James agrees with you as well. Thats why I think he has said they will not pull the trigger until it makes financial sense for the city. They are actually protecting our wallets. If they were willing to through the bank at a DT Hotel, I think we'd already have one going up.

[KCPowercat]

There are too many cities to compete with for conventions now. Fine to pursue a convention hotel but since there are already nearly 1000 rooms in progress downtown, it's not as critical - not enough large convention biz to go around for heavy incentives anyway. Medium incentives might be OK depending on terms, but downtown KC isn't in a desperate situation anymore and needs to reduce the financial risk with future projects. When the streetcar is running, more hotels may organically come anyway - a couple new ones specifically say they came because of streetcar, and needed no incentives if I recall, except maybe help with infrastructure.

I agree. And I think James agrees with you as well. Thats why I think he has said they will not pull the trigger until it makes financial sense for the city. They are actually protecting our wallets. If they were willing to through the bank at a DT Hotel, I think we'd already have one going up.

We just need to get into the top of the 2nd tier cities as far as space vs. hotel rooms...plenty of good conventions floating around in that size and we're not getting our share...our Convention space is fine, the hotel rooms are just way, way, way too low.

[KCPowercat]

Rumor of an announcement in March with Hyatt as the flag?

[flyingember]

Rumor of an announcement in March with Hyatt as the flag?

12 months ago I wouldn't have believed it. but with other hotels not asking for public financing it's clear the financial model downtown has changed

[KCPowercat]

Agreed but that doesn't mean new financing model hasn't been found for this project. 1000 room convention hotel is a much different animal than the current under construction hotel projects.

[kboish]

Ive been thinking with all of the demand for residential that the convention hotel might be partnered with apartments (condo convertibles) so they can justify snagging some extra incentives from the city. Not sure its feasible to have that big of a hotel with 150-300 units added on, but it could be a huge addition to the cities skyline if it happened.

[GRID]

Rumor of an announcement in March with Hyatt as the flag?

You have been saying this for years and nothing ever materializes. Do you think this has legs? Downtown is probably not only ready for a convention hotel, but a large scale mixed use project. Although most hotel/residential projects tend to be condos and the downtown kc condo market may not be mature enough for a project like that.

A 1000 room hotel + 200-300 residential units would be a huge building though. Downtown KC now has everything it needs to return to a second tier convention city...except modern close hotel rooms.

[beautyfromashes]

Ive been thinking with all of the demand for residential that the convention hotel might be partnered with apartments (condo convertibles) so they can justify snagging some extra incentives from the city. Not sure its feasible to have that big of a hotel with 150-300 units added on, but it could be a huge addition to the cities skyline if it happened.

I've seen this done before where a building is half hotel/ half residential and the residents have the ability to rent out their apartments as part of the hote on a daily basis. It's market driven, so if there is a big convention or concert then the price would be higher per night. Perhaps residents would go out of town for a week during the Big 12 tournament and make enough to pay their mortgage for the month. I think it's a great idea.

[JLowe2018]

Rumor of an announcement in March with Hyatt as the flag?

Where did you hear this rumor at?

P.S. First post on the forum!

[KCPowercat]

Rumor of an announcement in March with Hyatt as the flag?

You have been saying this for years and nothing ever materializes. Do you think this has legs? Downtown is probably not only ready for a convention hotel, but a large scale mixed use project. Although most hotel/residential projects tend to be condos and the downtown kc condo market may not be mature enough for a project like that.

A 1000 room hotel + 200-300 residential units would be a huge building though. Downtown KC now has everything it needs to return to a second tier convention city...except modern close hotel rooms.

I think that's a great idea on how to get this done. It was basically cordishs proposal for one light.

I think my last rumor on this was the Omni deal and that was later validated as almost done deal in the media months later.

This time around I don't trust this rumor as much as that one...but that's why I called it a rumor

[JLowe2018]

Well your rumor makes me kind of excited because I know of a company that might do a huge mixed use project of the kind you're describing...so if you have reason to believe this is true I'd be pretty excited.

[kboish]

Rumor of an announcement in March with Hyatt as the flag?

You have been saying this for years and nothing ever materializes. Do you think this has legs? Downtown is probably not only ready for a convention hotel, but a large scale mixed use project. Although most hotel/residential projects tend to be condos and the downtown kc condo market may not be mature enough for a project like that.

A 1000 room hotel + 200-300 residential units would be a huge building though. Downtown KC now has everything it needs to return to a second tier convention city...except modern close hotel rooms.

I think that's a great idea on how to get this done. It was basically cordishs proposal for one light.

I think my last rumor on this was the Omni deal and that was later validated as almost done deal in the media months later.

This time around I don't trust this rumor as much as that one...but that's why I called it a rumor

Plus Cordish has been saying the addition of a large convention hotel is something they really, really want. The city won't give subsidy for that...but they will give subsidy for apartments. Soooo, do both.